Altitude Sickness Ended my hike

[Cookerhiker]

Cookie, you were going from the 9 k range up to more than 14 k. That can affect some people jumping that much in one day.

Not quite - I went from 5K to 8K in one day and 8K to 10.5K the second. I've always thought that 9K was where I began to feel altitude stress and that was the case here, as the second half of Day 2 brought on the shortness of breath.

[RWK]

www.basecampmd.com has some very good info on high altitude sickness and its various components

[Coffee]

I just finished my southbound JMT thru hike on September 14. I thought that I had acclimated pretty well over the first few days but Donahue Pass was pretty tough for me. I had spent two nights in Yosemite Valley prior to starting the hike, one night at Little Yosemite (with side trip to Half Dome), a night at Sunrise, and a night in Upper Lyell Canyon before experiencing any problems with altitude. But while ascending Donahue and then sitting at the pass drinking some coffee, I got a splitting headache and generally felt terrible. I was lucky, or perhaps not suffering altitude issues at all, because two advils and hiking down from the pass resolved the issue. I camped at thousand island lake that night and then took a zero day at Red's Meadow. By the second half of the trip, I was going up and over passes with no issues at all and I camped several nights above 10,000 feet.

Altitude sickness seems so arbitrary and everyone seems to react very differently. I would recommend doing the rest of the JMT since the southern section is really spectacular. Maybe spending a few nights at Parcher's Resort near South Lake would be a good way to acclimate before starting over Piute Pass.

I already miss the trail and it has been less than a week!

[Dantolz]

There are many studies done on altitude sickness and prevention. I used

Ibuprofen

http://med.stanford.edu/ism/2012/march/altitude.html

[Dogwood]

Dantolz, thanks for sharing the link but this is exactly the type of approach that western medicine often takes that I highly question. It is based on medical education that largely seeks to address the pro-inflammatory response in the body, or in other words symptom(s), that is inflammation, while largely ignoring the causes of the inflammation. This is all too common of a scenario(and given as advice even from western trained MDs) - pop "vitamin I"(or some other anti-inflammatory drug or pain reliever) when one feels pain and/or experiences inflammation -masking(addressing) the symptoms without also adequately addressing the cause(s); it is a partial flawed healthcare approach, IMHO. Avoiding inflammation, AND PAIN, AND other symptoms can also be addressed proactively by taking a preventive health care approach, - that is, avoid the inflammation in the first place. That's another, POSSIBLY BETTER WAY, to not only approach PREVENTING Altitude Sickness, but your entire health. Ibuprofen is not a prevention it is a symptom based after the fact approach despite what the doctor is saying.

[saltysack]

I just finished my southbound JMT thru hike on September 14. I thought that I had acclimated pretty well over the first few days but Donahue Pass was pretty tough for me. I had spent two nights in Yosemite Valley prior to starting the hike, one night at Little Yosemite (with side trip to Half Dome), a night at Sunrise, and a night in Upper Lyell Canyon before experiencing any problems with altitude. But while ascending Donahue and then sitting at the pass drinking some coffee, I got a splitting headache and generally felt terrible. I was lucky, or perhaps not suffering altitude issues at all, because two advils and hiking down from the pass resolved the issue. I camped at thousand island lake that night and then took a zero day at Red's Meadow. By the second half of the trip, I was going up and over passes with no issues at all and I camped several nights above 10,000 feet.

Altitude sickness seems so arbitrary and everyone seems to react very differently. I would recommend doing the rest of the JMT since the southern section is really spectacular. Maybe spending a few nights at Parcher's Resort near South Lake would be a good way to acclimate before starting over Piute Pass.

I already miss the trail and it has been less than a week!

How long did it take? I'm hoping to thru jmt next August but alittle over 2 weeks is all I can swing off work. I can do 18-20 mile days on AT in Ga and NC but unsure with altitude out west. Thoughts?


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[wornoutboots]

rn-pct2015, I'm wondering if we crossed paths last year on the JMT? I Left GP on 8/16.

Back to what I've learned about AS is that mine was self-imposed by 3 main things:
1) hiking hard, like I do on the AT but not hydrating enough, you have to hydrate much more on the JMT

2) not resting enough at Passes, I would take a ton of pix on them but I needed to stay on them for an hour minimum, this year, I'll plan on an exploration/grub session while up there

3) NEVER camp more than 1200' higher than the night before. The night I woke up in my tent & couldn't breath, I studied it & made a really bad newb move. I camped just beyond the Kings Canyon entrance @ 8000' & the next night above upper Wanda lake @ 11,600' & this is where I had a near panic attack in my tent & couldn't breathe.

Hope that helps! ~boots~

[q-tip]

This is my biggest concern hiking the JMT. I got severe AMS in Switzerland climbing and in India. Even thought I used Diamox in both cases, I found the steroid Fusimide, it takes the water out of the lungs. If I heal from a current severe illness, I hope to do the JMT this summer.

[Luddite]

I agree with Dogwood. 10,500' - Don't get drunk for a few days and you'll be alright.

[Spirit Walker]

The first time we went to Colorado, my husband had serious altitude issues. He ended up with pulmonary edema. I had the altitude headache, but it eased after a couple of days. Because Jim couldn't breathe and was coughing up foam, we bailed about 10 days in. When we hiked the CDT the first time, two years later, he was fine. I slowed down when we reached 10,000', but he had no problems. None on the PCT either. On our second CDT hike, he had two days in CO when he had aphasia, but never any issues after that.